image (more images - graphic)
Wounds
by Richard M. Berlin, M.D.
Each wound contains
its own beauty--
blunt trauma indigo
walled below pale blue eyes,
the gashed leg
filigreed with blood,
an abdomen scored
by a surgeon's blade,
each layer yielding
with its own sigh,
the biopsy site healed
in a straight red line.
Each wound speaks
its own language,
every incision, slash,
cut-down and scar
in this world where
bruise is not a metaphor.
Here the body's art
conspires with destruction,
and violence surprises
with beauty so intense
the eyes of all beholders
must learn to be blind.
poem
one way to support the troops
another way to support the troops
one way to support the Iraqi people
many other ways to support the troops and the Iraqi people
one way to support victims of torture
one way to witness every day